Cloth Diapers

Yep, I did it. I switched to cloth diapers. Say what?! Ok I have a few reasons 1. Jackson was wetting through his diapers at night (because he is sleeping through the night :) ) the thought of paying more money for night time diapers seemed stupid 2. He constantly has a diaper rash which is most likely due to food allergies but hey his skin is so sensitive it could be the diapers....let's eliminate one more possible allergy 3. I started calculating the cost of diapers and about fell out of my chair. We are struggling (as in they said NO) with our insurance covering prescription formula and it is $88 a can. I even researched "relactation" (which apparently is possible but tough and then who knows if I could eliminate enough foods for it to be helpful to Jackson or produce enough for entire day) my thought was if we could at least cut down on diaper costs that would help with formula. 4. It is GREAT for him! Which is originally why I wanted to cloth diaper but I was scared.

So I did my research. Ok not really. On a whim I bought one diaper to try at night. Which doesn't really work because then how do you clean one diaper? So then I did some research. Here is my advice:

1. Buy cloth diapers at least 6 but you will need a lot more if you stick with it. I got ours Here

2. Buy a wet bag this is to place the diapers in after they are used. Wet Bags

3. Buy a sprayer to hook up to your toilet and pay a plumber to install it and you may end up spending $$ on a broken pipe that floods your guest bedroom, leaves you without water, and causing your house to smell from the wet carpet during a party you are throwing. I'm not saying that happened to us... No actually they are easy to install our pipes are just old. Sprayer

4. Figure out how to wash them with your washer. I have a front loader which is not ideal for cloth diapers. I just googled and read a bunch of blogs and so far so good.

5. Buy soap. I'm still using baby ganics.

6. Buy a drying rack. I got mine from target.

Random things I have learned:

1. AIO means all in one diapers. This is great if you don't want to get dirty (you don't have to take the liners out to wash) but it makes the diapers really bulky. I am using these for night time diapers. I think these would be a good idea to leave with your nanny because then you don't have to worry about finding which diapers still have the inserts in them- I would never make our nanny do the dirty work! 

2. Pocket diapers have inserts or what I call liners. These you should remove before washing which is a little gross. I am still figuring out when we should use which liner- thick vs. thin.

3. Snaps vs. velcro- the snaps take a little getting used too but it's not that bad- I mean you snap their onesies all the time same thing. I just ordered some velcro ones to try out. Velcro ones are probably better for daddy who leaves half of his onesies unbuttoned... and always leaves Jackson's pants off. Getting Jackson in pants is like wrestling a bucking bronco, he kicks his feet as fast as he can... you can't catch me!

Realistically cloth diapering is "gross" -er than disposables but I don't mind it- I mean babies are gross anyways at this point to you even flinch when you see poo, spit up, snot? It does take a little more time but I've got a pretty good system going. They are so cute! And you feel great every time you put a little chemical free diaper on your little one's booty! 

Week One of part time cloth diapering: His diaper rash is almost nonexistent! I can't wait to see what full time cloth diapering will bring. I haven't gagged once :) The sprayer is actually pretty cool and easy to use. The laundry I didn't even think twice about. The drying time is nothing. Maybe it's because I have a front loader but it's a half day at the most. I have started putting them in the sun to help with drying and with the "wet" smell. We have terrible water in Florida that makes everything smell which does concern me long term.. but I have noticed the diapers smell a little like you left your towels in the washer too long. I had one little stain but it's gone- this is because I didn't prep the diapers correctly. 

Now I'm waiting on my big order. I need to teach Jamie and the nanny how to cloth diaper- obviously I'm not going to make them spray anything. And we need to try it when we are out and about. Pictures on him in them to come!